10 U.S. Code § 743 - Rank: Chief of Staff of the Army; Chief of Naval Operations; Chief of Staff of the Air Force; Commandant of the Marine Corps

The Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps rank among themselves according to dates of appointment to those offices, and rank above all other officers on the active-duty list of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, except the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

5:626c(b) (1st sentence) is omitted as superseded by sections
8031(a)(1) and
8034(a) of this title. 5:626c(b) (2d sentence) is omitted as covered by section
8034(d) of this title. 5:626c(b) (3d and 4th sentences) is omitted as executed. 5:626c(b) (5th sentence) is omitted as covered by section
8034(b) of this title. 5:626c(b) (proviso of last sentence) is omitted as executed, since the incumbents to whom it is applied no longer hold the offices mentioned. The exception as to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is included because of section
142(c) of this title. The words “and the Marine Corps” are inserted, since under section
5081 of this title the Chief of Naval Operations takes precedence over all other officers of the naval service.

Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XIII, § 1314(e)(1),Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1176, provided that: “The amendments made by subsection (a) [amending this section, sections
2431 to
2434 of this title, and provisions set out as notes under sections
111 and
3033 of this title] shall apply as if included in the enactment of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–433).”